


you can be flawed enough (but perfect for a person)

by 230W49thSt



Category: Oxenfree (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Depression (probably), Developing Friendships, Developing Relationship, F/F, Falling In Love, Getting Together, Grief/Mourning, Is This Some Kind Of Voltron AU Or Low-Key Crossover? Let's Be Surprised Together, M/M, Michael/Jonas will be endgame here just to let you know, No Ghosts On Edwards Island, Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, WIP, eventually
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-25
Updated: 2019-09-25
Packaged: 2020-10-28 05:57:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20773676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/230W49thSt/pseuds/230W49thSt
Summary: During a weekend trip to Edwards Island, Jonas tunes into a radio station and talks to the person on the other side of the line. They befriend each other and it doesn't take long for Jonas to catch feelings. Little does he know that he opened a line into another dimension and talks to his stepsister's deceased brother Michael... who is trapped somewhere in an alternate universe.





	you can be flawed enough (but perfect for a person)

**Author's Note:**

> apparently, this is the first michael/jonas fic on this goddamn platform?! i am shooketh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> beware: italics are in use _a lot_.

_ “Jonas? If you-- ever wanna talk again? I’m here.” _

_ \- "You think I’m coming back to Edwards Island and crawl into this freaky cave again just to talk to you via radio?” _

_ “I’m just saying. I’m here. It was nice talking to you.” _

_ \- "See ya, dude.” _

**5:00 pm**

It was ridiculous, outright ridiculous. He’s been telling this himself ever since he stepped on the ferry this afternoon, greeted by Sea Captain Karen as if she knew him personally. She probably remembered the day she had ferried him, Alex, and Ren to Edwards Island to stay the weekend.

If he was alone, she had asked curiously. 

Yeah, Jonas had shrugged, he liked the quiet sometimes. 

_ Bullshit. _

Jonas prayed word wasn’t gonna get out to Ren or Alex so he had flashed her an apologetically smile that incorporated a silent beg to _ please not tell Ren about it _ \- if Ren learned about his unaccompanied trip to Edwards Island then Alex would learn about it two seconds later, tops. He wouldn’t know how to explain to them the reason behind his trip, hell, he didn’t even know how to justify his little adventure to himself.

All the way from Main Street to Beacon Beach, he kept his eyes fixed on the ground in front of him. There weren’t many tourists on the island in autumn this year but he was positive that everyone was staring at him.

They weren’t. Why should they? It was only his second trip here, the first one a couple of weeks ago. The shops were about to close soon, only a little Café was still open until 7:45 pm, right before the last ferry was about to leave.

It had been nice, kind of, their last trip. Getting to know his new stepsister Alex and her goofy best friend Ren. Good people. Ren could be a handful but he couldn’t have been luckier to have Alex in his life. If they were a package deal, Jonas would gladly accept it. And there had been Clarissa - she’d been… complicated, a fire burning inside her that matched the red color of her hair. She and Alex had some issues with each other since Clarissa had dated Alex’s brother and-- 

Yeah. Complicated.

Nona had been nice. A bit reserved, maybe, but after a few drinks she had loosened up just as the rest of them, dodging Ren’s drunk but actual cute pick-up lines as easy as Neo dodging bullets in Matrix.

The thought pulled a grin out of Jonas on his way down to the hidden beach. Ren had been so clueless that he had suffered from second-hand embarrassment. Maybe it took a gay to spot a gay because the way Nona had gazed at Clarissa had almost turned the night sky into a fucking rainbow.

Anyway. Now that he was back on the very same beach, it felt weird to be alone, not hearing their voices around him even though he had zoned out that night a couple of times because yeah… he didn’t like the quiet but that didn’t mean he wasn’t friendly with it. The quiet was there for him when no one else was. Like, when his mother had died and--

Jonas shook off the thoughts with a strong headshake. The harsh wind almost ripped his beanie away as he stared at the Pacific ocean in front of him. It had been warmer last time, maybe also because Nona had lit up a big fire for them to curl around.

After Alex and Ren had given him The Tour™, passing by old military facilities called 'The Garrison' in creepy woods, they had decided to spend the night right here on the beach, playing stupid games, and talking about past events Jonas knew nothing about. The fact that he had been new in town, new in Alex’s family, and new in their group of friends rubbed him the wrong way. He had felt bad about not being able to have that much fun although he had kept pretending. It wasn’t their fault, especially not Alex’s, but all weekend he had felt like an intruder, no matter how friendly the group had been towards him.

Soon, Clarissa and Nona had fallen asleep arm in arm, Ren had been busy paying a visit to magic muffin town, and Alex, well, she had appeared to be lost in thoughts, maybe in memories of past trips to the island that included her deceased brother Michael.

Jonas had decided to explore the nearby caves borrowing Alex’s radio - according to rumors, sometimes one was able to tune into frequencies from non-existing radio stations inside the cave and he was a sucker for supernatural stuff, blame him.

Well. He did just that and ‘just that’ was the very reason he’d decided to come back to the island, only this time alone.

Jonas tightened the straps of his backpack and climbed over the fence that barred the cave’s mouth from curious intruders. An additional sign warned of the risk of collapse. With a last glance back to the beach he made sure no one was around to call him out. 

Nope. He was alone. Exactly what he wanted but it was also a bit scary, to be honest. He had told his… new family, he would spend the night at an old friend’s house. If he tripped inside the cave and broke his legs, his body would probably never be found…

“Pull yourself together, Jonas,” he whispered. He switched on his flashlight and took the first step into the cave.

**5:20 pm**

Climbing down little walls wasn’t easy with a radio in one hand and a flashlight between his teeth but Jonas couldn’t help himself. His curiosity to check the frequencies as soon as possible outweighed the more practical approach to leave the radio in his backpack until he had reached the great opening a few hundred meters inside.

Every few steps he stopped to flip through the tiny radio that had a range from 88 fm to 108 fm. 

89,3 fm: _ idle piano music from the 50s _

92,5 fm: _ some noises similar to a lion's roar _

Weird but ok.

97,9 fm: a crack, then--

_ "Of course, I can get the particle barrier up, Maggie, just… give me a sec!" _

_ \- "How did they find us?" _

_ “Fuck the Quiznak!' _

_ \- “YOU’RE USING THE WORD THE WRONG WAY! AGAIN!” _

Right, the sci-fi channel. He had enjoined the audiobook last time he'd walked into the cave, listening to the story of two young women somewhere in space for a solid twenty minutes - until it got too strange and Jonas had changed the station once again. 

The descent was rough and soon the damp air clung to his jacket, lulling him into an uncomfortable warmth. It only took a few minutes to get to his destination but his excitement made him believe he had walked for hours. This part of the cave looked exactly like he had left it a few weeks ago: sparkling stones and stalactites covering the eerily greenish walls and ceiling, its colors changing in the light of Jonas’ flashlight from yellow to red. 

“Hello!” he shouted into the emptiness for no reason except that he could. His voice echoed from the walls around him as he walked up to the armchair in the middle of the opening. Yes, an armchair in a cave. It was old, fucking old probably, like, late 1950s old. The dark covering was ripped in several places and revealed the dirty cushion beneath. This time he skipped his internal debate whether he should sit down on this ugly thing or not and just flopped down as if he owned it. The salty humid air made him sleepy but sleep wasn’t the reason Jonas had returned to the island. 

He put the radio in his lap and took a deep breath. Slowly, he spun the little wheel. 

Static.

Static.

_ More piano music. _

Static. 

The space women again.

_ “--miss real food.” _

_ \- "It might be green and mushy but it’s not that bad, Anna.” _

_ “Yes, it is. So many years in space and I still can’t make it taste anything else than...this.” _

Static.

Static.

And nothing.

Nothing on 106,8 fm. 

Just like last time.

Jonas lifted the radio closer to his face and cleared his throat.

“Umm, hello? Anybody out there?”

Impatiently, he tapped against the small loudspeaker, trying not to feel stupid to talk to a radio without a microphone. Maybe last time had been a fever dream after all…

“What am I doing here?” he mumbled under his breath and closed his eyes. Or maybe it had been a glitch and the person he had talked to was long gone, the station not in reach anymore. He glimpsed at the watch on his wrist. 6:40 pm.

“Okay, well, you’re not there so, I guess I’ll be going, then.” He still had plenty of time to take the last ferry back to the mainland. If he left now, he could catch the 7 pm ferry and be home by 9.30 pm and join Alex, his father, and stepmother watching---

_ Crack. _

_ “Hello?” _ a voice said through the radio. _ “Hi? Jonas? Is that you?” _

“Oh wow, hi, yes, yes-- it’s me, Jonas!”

_ “You’re back!” _

“I am!”

Jonas couldn’t hide the grin on his face even if he had wanted to. Besides, no one was able to see him and even if the guy on the other line heard the corners of his mouth going up, he wouldn’t mind. Actually, the other guy could very well know how happy Jonas was to hear his voice again. 

A few weeks ago, they had connected by accident, really, but there had been a mutual feeling of needing each other that night, both from Jonas’ side and from-- the guy’s side. He didn’t know his name or where he lived, only that he was going through a similar hard time as Jonas and was probably the same age as him.

They had talked for hours and it had been exhilarating. They bonded over the same taste of music and the fact that they both didn't have a massive knowledge of movies or tv shows - something they both got teased by their friends on a regular basis. Jonas hadn't told him the real reason behind his trip to the island and the cave that night. He hadn’t had a chance to properly process he had a stepsister at that time and wouldn’t have wanted to talk about it to a stranger. The other guy had also been rather closed off. That hadn’t stopped them from getting closer though… something Jonas had only realized in hindsight when he was back alone in his room upstairs in his new house. Something about that guy’s voice had been soothing. Warm. Welcoming. Familiar, even. 

And he missed it.

Missed-- him. 

_ “Wow. I-- I didn’t expect to hear from you again.” _

The boy on the other side of the radio sounded very surprised which caused Jonas immediately to feel awkward. There he was, on Edwards Island after a 2 hours ferry trip, just to talk to a guy on a strange radio station he only was able to receive inside this very cave. Of course the guy was weirded out...

“Uh, last time you said I could talk to you anytime,” Jonas asked with a hint of a question mark at the end of his sentence.

_ “I know, I know. I just didn’t think you would actually accept my offer. Oh man,"_ the guy sighed, _ “you can’t believe how glad I am to hear you right now. I had a weird day and I’m in need of a sense of reality right now.” _

Jonas relaxed in the armchair, glad that his new friend didn’t judge him. “Are you hiding from your roommates again?” he asked.

_ “Uhm, kind of. We’ve been-- fighting. Pretty intense…” _

“You okay?”

_ “Yeah, it was stupid, really, you know how it is…. we dealt with it and had dinner.” _

“What did you eat?”

There was a brief pause.

_ “Applesauce.” _

“For dinner, seriously?”

_ “Anna - my roommate - made it. To be honest, it was terrible,”_ the guy said and the shudder that went through his body was audible in his voice. “_But we’re, uhm, on a budget. So a lot of applesauce for us.” _

Jonas’ eyes went to his backpack on the ground next to him. “I would trade a bowl of applesauce for a cheese sandwich.”

_ “You can’t just say things like that! This is just cruel.” _

They both laughed.

_ “But enough from me, what about you, how was your day?” _

Jonas bit his lip. This sounded oddly domestic. It’s been a while since someone had asked him a normal question like this and didn’t expect something troubling for an answer.

“Um, unspectacular so far. Packed my bag, left for the Island and now I’m here.”

_ “You’re honestly back on Edwards Island just to talk to me?” _

Jonas considered lying. That he’d been bored, that he wanted to chill, heck, he could even say he was there with his friends and the guy would have to believe him. But no, Jonas decided to settle for the truth.

“It was fun talking to you. I don’t have many people to talk to, so yeah, that’s why. You can call that pathetic if you want. Or ridiculous. Mental, even.”

_ “That would make me pathetic, too. I’m glad you called, Jonas. I mean it. I also don’t have many people to talk to.” _

“I don’t even know your name,” Jonas blurted out. At first, he thought the lack of an answer was caused by their line being disconnected all of a sudden… but then the boy cleared his throat and Jonas realized that it had been hesitation. 

_ “Oh, ah... you can call me M.” _

“That was a dramatic pause," Jonas joked. "So, Em? Like, short for… Emmett?” 

_ "Just M." _

"Alrighty. Em it is."

_ “Now come on, tell me a story in the life of Jonas. It’s been a while since we talked. How have you been?”_ There was some genuine interest in Em’s voice and Jonas began to open up.

"Honestly? I had some tough few weeks with this whole-- family thing…"

_ "Family thing?" _

Jonas swallowed. "I didn't tell you but... last time we talked was the day my Dad and I moved into town. He got remarried a few weeks ago and, yeah. My stepsister took me along with her and her friends and that's why I ended up on this island in the first place. It was supposed to be our first-- bonding ceremony, I guess.”

The line went silent for a moment.

_"Oh. Wow. A sister, that’s huge. How is she?" _

"She's nice, actually. She tries to be, at least. It’s difficult since-- she and her mother, they’re still mourning."

_ "Mourning?" _

"The reason her parents got divorced was because of her older brother. He had died a year ago. Drowned in a lake. The family couldn't deal with it."

Another stretched period of silence.

"Em? You still there?" 

_ "Yeah, yeah, man, that's-- tough. Uh. The stepsister, eh, she got a name?" _

His voice was different, Jonas noticed. Strained. 

"Alexandra, Alex in short,” he answered.

There was a weird noise at Em’s end of the line, a choking kind of sound. 

_ “Hey, uh,” Em mumbled, “will you excuse me for a few minutes, I need to go to the bathroom.” _

“Sure thing.”

Okay, he had definitely hit a nerve with the talk about his family. Em probably had a difficult relationship with his folks - or maybe they were dead? - and well, Jonas cursed himself as he waited and waited and waited.

Five anxious minutes later, there was a crack in his radio and Em’s voice sounded through again. 

_"Sorry about that. Uh. Her brother… he died a year ago, you said?" _

Jonas wondered if he should ask if something was wrong but he didn’t feel comfortable to push someone to talk he barely knew. 

"Yes… I feel kinda bad about it,” he began hesitantly. “Obviously, I'm not the replacement for Michael and everyone knows that but sometimes…” Jonas took a deep breath and the words kept flooding out of his mouth. “I feel as if they have an expectation of me… I don’t know. And sometimes Alex looks at me in a certain way, like, as if she knew I’m Jonas but wished I was Michael. Or as if she tried to see glimpses of him in me. Which is not possible, obviously, as far as I know, Michael was some kind of saint and popular kid. And I’m just-- me, the kid who went to juvie and who still wears his dead mother’s wedding ring around the neck and who runs off to an island just to talk to some stranger because he has no one else to talk to. How can I compete with him? Not that I want to, it's just-- do I have to?”

The silence on the other line was deafening.

“Oh hell, I didn't mean to overshare or use you for an emotional trash can, Em. I’m so sorry, really, I--”

_ “How--” Em interrupted him and Jonas fell silent. “How are they dealing with… Michael’s death?” _

“They try but it's hard. His mom got my dad, I guess. They look out for each other. Alex has her friends.”

_ “And she has you.” _

“Yeah-- no, I don’t think I’m a big help in this situation.”

_ “You’re-- you’re a good guy, Jonas. And… you lost someone, too, so you know how--” _

“That’s why I know that this wound will never heal,” he interrupted Em roughly. “You will never stop missing this person. It’s been over a year since my mother died and-- there are still days I catch myself thinking stuff like ‘oh, I gotta tell mom about it’ only to realize a second later that ‘no, I won’t, I never will’. And that sucks, Em. It sucks.”

Frustrated beyond belief, Jonas ran his hand over his head, accidentally pushing off his beanie which fell to the ground. 

“Jesus, I’m doing it again. What-- what about you, Em? Do you wanna talk about the fight you had or, I don’t know, the weather or--”

_ “I have a sister. She’s the most amazing person in the entire universe.” _

Oof.

“You guys close?”

_ “We were. I had to leave and-- we haven’t seen each other in a while. I’m very far away and it’s hard to reach out. But I miss her so much.” _

So that was why Em had reacted the way he did. He had it a nerve after all. The pain in his words radiated through the tiny radio and made a beeline for Jonas’ heart.

“I'm sorry to hear that,” he said quietly. “Do you think there’s a way for you two to reconnect?”

_ “I’m not so sure. We’re so far away, it feels like I’m far away in space and she’s still on Earth, galaxies apart.” _Jonas pressed his lips together when Em chuckled darkly. The reaction felt out of place. A coping mechanism, without a doubt.

They talked the entire night.

At first, Em was hesitant to talk about himself, stopping now and then when he seemed to believe he was getting too deep into something. After a few hours, he relaxed visibly (or: audibly) and he opened up more and more. Maybe their tiredness was also a factor, making them as carefree as a drunk person. None of them wanted to end the call and despite Jonas’ eyes being heavy and his brain turning to mush, he still tried to follow Em’s stories he gladly shared with him:

How his roommates were madly in love with each other but none of them made the first move. How his sister once had stolen a car to get to a concert (apparently it had been a misunderstanding but Em seemed to think it was the most hilarious thing ever). How he had wanted to leave his hometown so badly and now that he was far away, he actually missed it.

**2:46 am**

_ “Hold on a sec.” _ Em’s voice was muffled, probably caused by a blanket getting thrown over his radio or whatever he was broadcasting from. A female voice was talking in the background but it was hard to make out any words. Her tone indicated some form of distress or agitation. When she was done, Em answered. 

_ “Just talk to her, Maggie. She’s been here longer than us so the odds that she has a point are quite high. No, I was just listening to some music. Okay, good night!” _

A crack later, Em was back, his voice clear as before. 

_ “Sorry, that was my roommate.” _

“Trouble in paradise?” Jonas joked.

_ “Paradise Island is in flames at this point,” Em sighed. “Anna wants Maggie to go back, uhmm, to her former job and life, basically, because she doesn’t believe Maggie is happy here.” _

“Let me guess: Maggie disagrees?”

_ “She does. You know, they were childhood friends who got separated and only recently got back together. Maggie doesn’t want to leave. And obviously Anna doesn’t want her to leave either! They’re being stupid is all. I’m in the middle of this mess, trying to talk to both of them.” _

“Difficult situation.”

_ “Yeah.” _

“Uhm. So. Do _ you _have a-- significant other over there?”

_ “Oh. Not anymore, no. I used to date someone a while back. thought we were meant to be together. But before I left… I had some doubts.” _

“You broke up?”

_ “Kind of. And you?” _

Why was Jonas feeling awkward all of a sudden? It was just a simple question but his heart felt as if it had the hiccups.

“Single. I’m single,” he answered.

_ “I figured.” _

Jonas scoffed. “Wow. Thanks for your honesty about my person.”

_ “No! Noo, I don’t mean it like that,” _Em laughed loudly. “_It’s just… you said it’s Friday night? Buddy, you spend it on a lonely island in the Pacific to talk to me. So tell me I’m wrong?” _

“Good deduction.”

_ “You’re not into dating or…?” _

“It’s not that I don’t want to-- be close to someone, it’s just--” Jonas ruffled his hair, “I have so much baggage. I don’t know if I can stomach closeness at this moment. Or opening up to someone.”

_ “You’re opening up to me, aren’t you?” _

“Oh. I didn’t mean to--”

_ “It’s fine, Jonas, I get it, no homo and all.” _

Jonas closed his eyes and sent a silent prayer into the universe. “Well, actually yes homo.”

“_You gay?” _

“Problem?”

_ “No, not at all. I’m bi.” _

Jonas’ tiredness was gone in an instant and he sat up straight (lol) in the chair.

“Oh. Cool.”

_ “Yeah.” _

It was evident that the atmosphere between the two of them had shifted into something else. The once sleepy relaxed mood was gone and got replaced by a weird tension.

_ “Hey Jonas.” _

Jonas’ eyes widened and he grabbed the armrest of his chair. Oh Christ, was Em feeling it, too?

“Hm?” he hummed noncommittally although his heart raced.

_ “Can you do me a favor? Can you hug your stepsister when you see her again?” _

“Uhm.” The air got punched out of his chest. He had been expecting something else - which was questionable itself. To expect something, even though he hadn't known what. 

_ “Just-- I can’t hug mine.” _

Jonas briefly closed his eyes and nodded. Get a grip, he thought, this is important to him. 

“Yeah. I can do that, Em."

_ “Promise?” _

“Promise. I will give her a big hug and, uh, think of you when I do it.”

_ "Thanks. And Jonas? Just be yourself. I know it sounds cliché but as far as I can tell you're a great guy. You're not there to replace-- someone. Or to compete with a dead brother. Alex will learn that. She has too. Until then… just hang in there. You're you. And that's amazing."_

Jonas' cheeks tingled from happiness. "Thanks. I'm gonna try."

**4:00 am**

With a jolt, Jonas opened his eyes. Where was he? How did he--

_“Jonas? You still there, buddy?”_

Oh. Right. The cave. Edwards Island.

“Urgh. Sorry," he grunted, "I guess I fell asleep.” 

_ “Me too. I gotta go now, run some errands and help the girls.” _

“It’s 4 am.”

_ “Not in my part of the universe.” _

“Well, alright then. Hey... would you mind if I call you again sometime?”

_ “I count on it, Jonas. You’re my window to the world.” _

“Oh God, don’t tell me your roommates hold you hostage.”

Em chuckled._ “No, the universe does. So… when will I hear from you again?” _

“I’m probably gonna be back next Friday? Same time?”

_ “Great. It’s a date, then.” _

“I-- It’s a date.”

_ “See ya, Jonas.” _

“Bye, Em!” 

_ Click. _

Silence spread through the cave but Em’s voice still echoed through his head, covering the darker thoughts of the last few weeks like a security blanket, trying to soothe them. 

Jonas looked at his watch again. He still had a few hours to pass until the first ferry would arrive on Edwards Island and bring him home. He huddled deeper inside his jacket and leaned his head against the backrest of the armchair, staring at the ceiling above him. The flashlight lay lost on the ground, still shedding some light that made the stones sparkle.

Em. 

One week until he was able to talk to him again. To hear his voice, to laugh about their differences and to be excited about the stuff they had in common. He had already talked more to him than he had talked to his new stepsister, opened up more to him in two nights than to all the people he had considered friends since his mother had died. 

Maybe Em would tell him where he lived. Maybe… they could exchange phone numbers. Or meet up even? Although Em pretended to live far away, the radio frequency he used was proof the distance couldn’t be that big, right? Maybe he was still somewhere in Oregon. Washington, maybe. Or North California?

‘It’s a date,’ he had said. 

A date. 

Surely he only meant it as a friendly get-together. A settled date to talk to each other. Not a _date_-date. Nevertheless, it was hard to deny the rush of feelings Jonas had felt when Em had uttered this short sentence.

A date.

Jonas closed his eyes and let out a long breath. He didn’t know what Em looked like but that didn’t stop him to indulge a few seconds in a daydream where things would actually be good for once. Seconds became minutes and Jonas fell asleep with a grin and a fluttering feeling in his stomach.

**7:25 am**

_ “What’s up with him? If I didn’t know any better I’d say he’s in love.” _

__ \- "Maybe he’s getting space flu or something.” _ _

_ “I’m sure there’s no such thing, Anna.” _

__ \- “I’m gonna investigate and then---” _ _

_Crack, crack, crack._

Silence.

With a sigh Jonas turned off the radio when he left the cave and lost connection to the weird stations, the space women audiobook included. The Eastern sky was slowly turning into a light orange, the sun still hidden behind the horizon. Slowly, he made his way up the rocks towards Main Street until he had a good look over the small port. Far away in the distance, he could make out Karen's ferry on her first trip. He took a seat on a bench and stared across the ocean, waiting in silence.

Jonas didn’t like the quiet.

That didn’t mean he wasn’t friendly with it. 

The quiet was there for him when no one else was.

And in the quiet of a cave on a quiet island, he had found someone who was there for him when no one else was. Little did he know about the adventure he would get thrown into only a week from now on.

**Author's Note:**

> fair warning: although i do have an outline for this story, i don't have an update-schedule. comments and kudos are muuuuuch appreciated since this is a smol bean fandom and i'm curious if you're interested in a story like that or the pairing and so on.
> 
> i said something about a voltron au or a crossover in the tags but don't be concerned, citizen, i always write AU's in a way that you don't have to know the original source :)


End file.
